4.10.2012

Trying to finish up China...

I'm so behind, so I appreciate your patience! Last you read, we had visited the safari park in Guangzhou. After that, we had some time at the hotel to rest and have lunch and then it was off to the famous Shamian Island for shopping.

We bought several souvenirs and then met up with several of our traveling families for dinner at Lucy's. Lucy's is well known to adoptive families as being the best place to get American food.

I had a cheeseburger and while I thought it was good, I don't think everyone else loved what they had. We ended up going back to the island the next day after our consulate appointment.

Our appointment started out rocky because *someone* was late. And yes, after they told us not to be late, because if we were the bus would leave us and we'd have to find our own way there. In my defense, we were on the 22nd floor and it took 10 minutes to get an elevator up and down. But yes, my guide was furious with me. However, in the end, we got there on time and all was well. The consulate doesn't allow videos or cameras so there's nothing for me to post. It was a very non-event. We went in and the entire room stood up to swear we would give accurate information. Then, you waited for your name to be called and then went up to the window with your paperwork, signed some stuff and then you were done.

After we did that, several families went back to Shamian Island to finish shopping. Our main goal was shoe shopping at Sherry's!

Deanne was not as interested in the kid shoe shopping as I was, so she waited outside with the strollers while we shopped inside.

We also got some pics around the island that I had wanted the day before but wasn't able to get.

After shopping, we caught a taxi back to the hotel and then rested until our evening dinner cruise. We had been warned that the food wasn't great, so we ate a very late lunch. I didn't eat anything on the cruise, but Jenna and Deanne did. Kylie even enjoyed some food. The dinner cruise was a great opportunity for me to catch some of the beautiful sights of Guangzhou at night...

It was a late night, but it was a good one. It was our last evening in Guangzhou...Wednesday afternoon, Kylie's visa would be picked up which would be the last thing we needed to fly home!